Chris Hayes

That's true for Democrats, too. Like sometimes there are tradeoffs between ideas moving public opinion in one direction or another or normalizing things that seem ultra or radical that may cost a few candidates elections. And I think that those tradeoffs go in both directions.

That's true for Democrats, too. Like sometimes there are tradeoffs between ideas moving public opinion in one direction or another or normalizing things that seem ultra or radical that may cost a few candidates elections. And I think that those tradeoffs go in both directions.

The other thing is like there's consequences here that are more than political, like literally tens of thousands of people die that shouldn't have died during the pandemic because they didn't get vaccinated. Yeah. So, there's, like, real tangible results to all of this that...

The other thing is like there's consequences here that are more than political, like literally tens of thousands of people die that shouldn't have died during the pandemic because they didn't get vaccinated. Yeah. So, there's, like, real tangible results to all of this that...

But that's the kind of thing where— That's the risk you're running. I'm biased here, and people listening to this who don't share my politics are free to write this off or not. But I think the center-left, which still broadly consumes what we would call the mainstream media, legacy media, institutional media, that there's just more of this— reality checking happening there.

But that's the kind of thing where— That's the risk you're running. I'm biased here, and people listening to this who don't share my politics are free to write this off or not. But I think the center-left, which still broadly consumes what we would call the mainstream media, legacy media, institutional media, that there's just more of this— reality checking happening there.

I mean, you know, there's a big fight about like, is inflation happening or is it not? And then it was clear that inflation was happening. It was very high. And there are people who were talking about whether the inflation was the cause of the American rescue plan or whether it was really politically salient.

I mean, you know, there's a big fight about like, is inflation happening or is it not? And then it was clear that inflation was happening. It was very high. And there are people who were talking about whether the inflation was the cause of the American rescue plan or whether it was really politically salient.

But you didn't get a bunch of inflation truthers saying that the books were cooked or they were wrong or like inflation was high. And that was that core fact suffused the coverage of all the people in that media ecosystem and sphere.

But you didn't get a bunch of inflation truthers saying that the books were cooked or they were wrong or like inflation was high. And that was that core fact suffused the coverage of all the people in that media ecosystem and sphere.

But I think if you saw 9% inflation under Donald Trump, I think you would have had a kind of similar, you know, reaction to the election, which is like, it's not happening. I think there's just a mechanism of denial, a mechanism of like sheer sort of cleaving off from reality in that attentional ecosystem that is staked.

But I think if you saw 9% inflation under Donald Trump, I think you would have had a kind of similar, you know, reaction to the election, which is like, it's not happening. I think there's just a mechanism of denial, a mechanism of like sheer sort of cleaving off from reality in that attentional ecosystem that is staked.

And his key point here, which I think is just the bedrock for this analysis and so often left behind and so important, is that we're talking about collective understanding and collective publics as complicated organisms that are greater than the sum of their parts.

And his key point here, which I think is just the bedrock for this analysis and so often left behind and so important, is that we're talking about collective understanding and collective publics as complicated organisms that are greater than the sum of their parts.

Because as he writes in the piece, like a lot of this discourse is about individuals, like a bunch of individuals hold these wrong beliefs, right? But democracy is something we do together. It's not a bunch of aggregated individual choices. And I think this argument is completely correct.

Because as he writes in the piece, like a lot of this discourse is about individuals, like a bunch of individuals hold these wrong beliefs, right? But democracy is something we do together. It's not a bunch of aggregated individual choices. And I think this argument is completely correct.

And partly it's because we're also being constantly pulled towards things that are the most intentionally salient, which is just a distinct category from like at a bedrock from what we think is important. I cannot stress this enough. Attention is not a moral faculty. There's a Lipman writing in 19-teens that I quote in the book. It's during Versailles.

And partly it's because we're also being constantly pulled towards things that are the most intentionally salient, which is just a distinct category from like at a bedrock from what we think is important. I cannot stress this enough. Attention is not a moral faculty. There's a Lipman writing in 19-teens that I quote in the book. It's during Versailles.

And he says, the American people have a great deal of interests in what happens at Versailles, but they're not interested in it. He's like, he's like in the same way that like a child has a real interest in his father's business. He's going to inherit, but he's not interested in it. He's like, what we're interested in is like the gowns of the queen basically. Yeah.

And he says, the American people have a great deal of interests in what happens at Versailles, but they're not interested in it. He's like, he's like in the same way that like a child has a real interest in his father's business. He's going to inherit, but he's not interested in it. He's like, what we're interested in is like the gowns of the queen basically. Yeah.